110 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [4] 



the most common being the ordinary scoop or dip net, also called crab- 

 net. For attracting the Crabs from depths not easily reached by means 

 of the dip-net, the fishermen resort to baited lines, without hooks, which 

 are used singly or made up into trawls. From a small boat, each fisher- 

 man is able to handle several single lines, which are hauled up at short 

 intervals, the Crabs being secured in a dip-net as they approach the 

 surface. The crab-trawl, or trot-line, measures 250 to 700 feet in length, 

 and has small lateral lines arranged at short distances apart. There 

 are several methods of setting it. One is to anchor each end by means 

 of weights, and another to attach the ends to long poles, which are 

 thrust down into the bottom. A man in a skiff rows continuously 

 from end to end, hauling in the lateral lines and taking the Crabs as in 

 the first instance. On the Louisiana coast, the trot lines are stretched 

 along the beaches, the lateral lines being thrown out into the water and 

 hauled in at regular intervals. Seines, hoop-nets, baited with meat, and 

 clam tongs are also occasionally employed for catching Crabs. As the 

 Soft Crabs remain in a semidormant condition, and will not take the 

 bait, they are secured almost entirely by means of scoop-nets from the 

 beaches, or in the hands. Floating cars are extensively employed in 

 some localities for keeping the Hard Crabs until they shall have cast 

 their shells and become soft. Crabs are generally shipped to market in 

 boxes, baskets, or barrels, with or without packing. Small boxes are 

 mainly preferred for the Soft Crabs, which are packed in very snugly 

 in order that they may stand transportation without injury, and so that 

 the moisture will not run too freely from the gills. The Crab catchers 

 consist largely of women and children, especially in the Southern States. 



In 1880, there were three Crab canneries in the United States, two 

 being located at Hampton, Virginia, and one at Oxford, Maryland. 

 Only Hard Crabs are canned, the supplies coming mainly from the 

 neighborhood of the canneries. The process of canning Crabs is some- 

 what similar to that for lobsters, as practiced on the New England 

 coast. The Crabs are boiled or steamed, after which the meats are re- 

 moved from the hard parts and packed in one and two pound tins, the 

 shells or carapaces being cleaned and sold with the meats, to serve as 

 holders in making deviled Crabs. The refuse is used as a manure. 



The Crab fisheries of the eastern coast of the United States, in 1880, 

 amounted to $328,000 (fishermen's prices), of which the greater part be- 

 longed to New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 

 South of Virginia, on the Atlantic coast, the Crab fishery is of but 

 slight importance, at present ; on the Gulf coast it amounts to about 

 $10,000 annually, and is mainly confined to Louisiana. 



The Rock and Jonah Crabs (Cancer irroratus and borealis) are eaten 

 only to a slight extent, probably for the reason that their range is coex- 

 tensive with that of the lobster, which is much more favorably regarded 

 as an article of food. Cancer irroratus is caught at the mouth of Boston 

 Harbor, in small quantities, to supply the Boston markets, and both 



